


in the dark dream

by ghostscribe



Category: Pocket Monsters | Pokemon (Main Video Game Series), Pocket Monsters: Black 2 & White 2 | Pokemon Black 2 & White 2 Versions
Genre: Horror, Mild Hurt/Comfort, Minor Violence, rated for safety's sake idk
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-21
Updated: 2018-07-21
Packaged: 2019-06-13 20:18:36
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,438
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15372525
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ghostscribe/pseuds/ghostscribe
Summary: Nate is fond of his best friends, but he is absolutely not fond of this strange house that Rosa and Hugh are hellbent on exploring.





	in the dark dream

This was Hugh's bright idea. 

Nate isn't entirely opposed to going on adventures; he loves them, in fact! If he weren't an adventurer by nature, he wouldn't have ever left Aspertia City to go on his Pokémon journey, and he never would have made all the new friends he did! He even befriended the (now former) administrator of Team Neo Plasma, and of course he got a ton of Pokémon along the way! He's no stranger to taking risks, too, rushing into Reversal Mountain with neither a map nor a human companion, accepting the gift of a supposedly uncontrollable, bioengineered Pokémon, even running onto the Plasma Frigate after Rosa just to make sure she would be safe. 

So no, Nate is no stranger to adventures. He does not, however, like where this one is going. 

It's taking a bit of a weird direction, he has to admit. The three of them usually like to run around and go camping in weird spots, curling up in hidden grottos and under bridges, muffling their chatting and giggling late into the night. They tease each other, try to throw snacks into each other's mouths, even play as robust a game of truth or dare as they can in the middle of nowhere. All of their favorite pastimes are generally light-hearted and fun for the whole family ( _family_ being the three of them, of course).

The one thing Nate has never been fond of that the others like is ghost stories, because he happens to actually believe in that kind of thing. 

"Nate, hurry up! It's gonna get dark soon!" Hugh calls, and Nate suddenly realizes he's falling behind. He jogs to catch up. 

"Sorry! I got distracted!"

"Figures," Rosa huffs. "You can't get distracted when it's getting too dark to see us, you know."

Nate is walking alongside them, now. "It's not that dark yet! The sun is still setting! Maybe we can just wander around out here if it's so dark, huh?"

"Come on, Nate," Hugh laughs, catching onto that tone in Nate's voice immediately. "You can't be that scared, right?"

Nate wrings his hands. "No..."

Nate is actually very anxious. His mom is a bit more... traditional than either Rosa or Hugh's families. He can't close his door if Rosa is over (never mind the fact he's gay), he was never allowed to go out past dark alone, and, of course, he's never allowed to meddle in paranormal endeavors. _Witchcraft,_ is his mom's catchall for it. Nate isn't one to want to deal with any ghosts that aren't distinctly ghost type Pokémon, and even those make him a little uneasy. His mom has a lot of horror stories about spirits, ghouls, and vampires, all sorts of things along those lines, stories she picked up from her grandmother, and stories that are kept so close to heart that he keeps a pack of salt in his bag at all times. You can never be too prepared. 

Hence, Nate is apprehensive about exploring the abandoned house. 

"I'm gonna try to catch a Banette while we're in there, anyway," Rosa comments. "I might find a Duosion if I'm lucky, but I dunno if it makes sense to have another psychic on my team."

"You can make another competitive team with Reuniclus," Hugh offers. 

"I'd be willing to organize something like that if I can sort a proper team out."

"Have you ever tried battling with Electivire? You could..."

Nate's focus slips away from them. He's trying to just appreciate the scenery, the rocky path up to this weird haunted house, but the thought of the house is stuck in his head. He wonders if he should have brought his mom's rosary with him like she suggested he do when he first left on his journey. He does have salt, at least. If he sprinkles a little around them before they go to bed, they should be safe, right? Maybe a prayer or five would help. He doesn't want to be a burden on his friends, but he's really not too eager about this, and they're suggesting they spend the night in that house. It doesn't help that neither of them believe in human ghosts or poltergeists. Nate is pretty damn sure there's something to it, though. His own house has always been a little... weird. 

"Wake up, Nate!"

Oh. They're here. 

"...so, Rosa," he says tentatively, "you're gonna find a Banette?"

"Yeah." She looks a little worried. "You okay over there?"

"Yep."

"He's scared of ghosts," Hugh explains bluntly, making Nate blush with how stupid it sounds. "Don't worry, Nate. I got you, and Stoutland has Foresight, so I can kick any ghost's butt if anything tries to mess with you!" 

Nate wants to accept the comfort from his friend (okay, crush), but he knows Hugh is saying this more for show than anything. "R-Right."

"Come on, boys. I don't wanna wait around all night."

Nate is very, very reluctant, but it'd be worse waiting out here and sending his two nonbeliever friends into a haunted house to do something stupid and come back out possessed. 

The house is... strange. The furniture is old, seeming to tremble with every step that shakes the floor, the wooden boards creaking loudly yet somehow very quietly. The couches and flower pots are placed in no particular order, making Nate wonder if this huge front room was used for anything more than a dumping ground when it was abandoned. 

"How long has this place been empty?" Nate asks. 

"Legend says about twenty years, maybe more by now," Hugh answers. "That's why it looks like crap."

"Well, that and the Golbat's shitting on everything," Rosa huffs. "We're gonna have to just make sure we don't sleep under a nest of them."

"Oh, great, they're roosting in here?" Hugh groans. 

"As far as I can tell." She wanders a bit further into the room, leaving Nate and Hugh in the entryway. "It's so quiet, though..."

"Yeah, almost like its abandoned."

"Don't sass me, Hugh. I could beat you in a second and a half."

Nate notices something move out of the corner of his eye. That flower pot is too heavy to have moved on its own. Maybe... maybe it's a Banette sneaking around, yeah, or maybe a Ghastly, the Ghastly line of Pokémon like to mess about and scare the daylights out of people. 

The pot suddenly shatters. Nate doesn't even try not to scream.

"What?!" Hugh rushes in front of Nate. "What is it?!"

"Th... The pot just - "

"Eelektross, come out."

"Stoutland, go!"

Rosa and Hugh respectively release their Pokémon, one ready to make a catch and one ready to battle. Both of the Pokémon are at the ready.

"Foresight!"

Stoutland looks back at Hugh, though, confused.

"...on, on the ghost Pokémon, right? Go for it!"

Stoutland barks lowly, looking around the room, sniffing the floor. 

"...Eelektross, can you sense anything?" Rosa asks.

_"Trossss..."_ the eel hisses to Rosa, then floats over to Stoutland. _"Eelek!"_

_"Stout?"_

_"Lektross."_

_"...stout."_

Hugh and Rosa share a perplexed look. "I don't think they see anything," she declares.

"'cause it's a real ghost," Nate mutters. Hugh pats his shoulder. 

"Relax, it probably just fled."

"How often does a Banette flee, Hugh?"

"Could've been a Litwick, too," Rosa offers. "Come on. Let's see what's in the basement first."

"Oh, great, a basement in a haunted house," Nate grumbles. "Don't you think it's kinda dangerous to be wandering around in the middle of an abandoned house? Couldn't the floors be really weak?" Also, could a Litwick break a pot that heavy?

"Eh, it's fine," Rosa shrugs. "I almost got frozen to death by an old man, there's not much that can phase me anymore. That doesn't mean we're gonna be too reckless, though."

Nate sighs and holds the strap of his bag a little tighter. He does still have that salt, right?

The basement is a library, lined with probably hundreds of books all through the unusually narrow space. There's at least a dozen chairs scattered around haphazardly, too, couched places in ways that you can't even actually sit in. 

"Why did this place get abandoned?" Nate asks tentatively. 

"I... dunno." Hugh hesitates to answer. Nate gets the sense he does know, but probably doesn't want to freak him out too much. Maybe it's for the - 

_Abra._

"An Abra?" Nate echoes. Rosa flips around to face him. 

"Wait, where?"

Uh. 

"I thought... I thought you said you saw an Abra."

Rosa looks confused. "No? You're the one who said it."

"No, I heard a girl say Abra, and you're the only girl here, so..."

"Well, you kinda sound like a girl, so..."

Nate crosses his arms. "My point is that I said Abra because someone else said it first!"

"I didn't hear anything, Nate," Hugh admits. 

"Neither did I. Are you sure you heard something, or are your nerves getting to you?"

Nate sighs. "I guess it's just me."

Something is shuffling in the back corner. 

"...you can hear that, though, right?" Nate asks more hesitantly. 

"Come on, Eelektross," Rosa whispers, followed shortly by the eel. Nate and Hugh slowly edge after her, keeping right on her heels. "You see it?"

_"Tross."_

"...Thunder Wave."

A blast of electricity shoots out, a large wave surging toward the rustling, blasting the dust and boxed away. From the rubbish, a trembling Banette crawls out and attacks with a ball of ghostly energy. With Eelektross being so powerful, any damage-dealing attack will probably knock the Banette out, causing it to be unrecognizable by any pokéball. Rosa decides to test her luck with a quick ball, to no avail. 

"Shit."

Nate sneaks up and hands her a few of his dusk balls. "Maybe one of these?"

Again, no luck. The Banette is still paralyzed. 

"...Leavanny, come out. Hugh, can you help me here?" 

He knows exactly what's up. "Foresight on Banette, go!"

"False Swipe!"

The little ghost creature is now at low health. Nate always loves watching these two work together. If the Banette were any stronger, he'd pitch in, too. He had to put a Metang to sleep four separate times with how difficult they are to capture. 

One more dusk ball, and Banette is hers. 

"Got him! Thanks, guys!" She pets her Pokémon, satisfied with their work. "And thank you boys, too."

Nate feels a little lighter. "Oh, don't even mention it!"

"You did good, Stoutland. False Swipe wouldn't have worked if - "

_Mom._

" - you weren't there for us!" The dog happily barks.

_Dad._

"Alright, come back for now, Stoutland."

"Eelektross, Leavanny, you're good to go."

_Abra!_

There's a girl over there. 

Nate can't see her clearly enough, though, through either the dust or the fact that she may not be as physical as they are, not even as physical as Banette is. She looks at him. Her eyes are as white as a snow, and Nate feels that snow freezing him in place. 

"Nate?" 

He can't even blink. 

"Nate!"

She's gone. 

Hugh is shaking him from behind. "Nate, come on!"

He just... lets himself fall into Hugh, who's now half hugging him, half keeping him off the ground. It takes a few seconds to correct himself, try and shake the chill off.

"...I think it was a Gothorita."

Like hell he's telling them what he saw. He already knows they won't believe him. 

"Oh." Hugh looks curiously at Nate. "You looked kinda..."

"I-I think it was using Hypnosis," he lies. "I was feeling tired all of the sudden."

"Well, let's keep snooping around," Rosa suggests. "It's way too humid down here, anyway."

Nate thought it was just him struggling to breathe, because of whatever entities are in this house. Maybe it's just humid, sure. He doesn't believe that, but he can pretend. 

"So, first floor?" Hugh asks. 

"Yeah, then we'll head up the stairs if they're stable enough." Rosa is already going back to the surface, leaving Hugh and Nate rushing after her. "The basement stairs seem really sturdy, though, for what it's worth. Usually places like these are a lot more dilapidated. It's impressive that the house is this sturdy as it is."

"Well, it's an adobe house," Nate offers, "so it's probably too dry in here for the wood to rot."

...so how could they say that the basement air humid?

Rosa thinks about that for a moment. "Seems legit."

The furniture has been completely rearranged. 

Nate takes a deep breath to steady himself, but it takes his friends a few seconds to realize something is wrong. They're both looking around at the layout, looking at one another, mouthing out phrases like _what the hell_ and _I dunno,_ looking back at Nate and at the cluster of furniture. 

"You noticed." Nate wanted to sound more smug about it, but he's too scared to even fake it. 

"Well, uh..." Rosa is starting to get uneasy, now. "Maybe someone else is in here...?"

Hugh, in classic horror movie fashion, calls out into the darkness. "Hello?"

No answer. Nate feels ice cold now. 

"...let's go upstairs, actually," and Rosa is already on her way up. 

"What, you're gonna let a couch block you?" Hugh watches her and Nate ascend. 

"Welp, if the couch says we're gonna go up, then we're gonna go up."

There she is again. Rosa doesn't seem to see her. 

_Where are you?_

And she's gone. 

"You can literally move the couch away, but whatever," Hugh grumbles. "Let's see what's in this room."

Do... Do they seriously not notice?

Nate follows them into a room that literally looks like something out of that movie with that horrible cursed doll. The rug is a mess, there's dust everywhere, and this room feels even colder than the main room outside. That doesn't make even the slightest bit of sense, though, if heat rises, and he's pretty sure he understands basic physics if not common knowledge. Then again, maybe he has more common knowledge than he thinks. He can be a bit of an air head, but he's not stupid enough to mess with spirits or ignore the obvious signs. 

"...okay." Hugh wanders deeper into the room. "Well, there's a rare candy here."

"Are you seriously gonna feed that to one of your Pokémon?" Nate asks. "That thing is probably ancient."

"Some other visitor probably dropped it wandering around," Rosa shrugs. "I doubt it's been here for twenty years, or else something would've ate it by now."

"True," Nate agrees.

Several Golbat open their eyes and watch from above. Nate backs up a step. 

"Rosa, unless Eelektross wants company, we should probably back out of here."

"Yeah, no sense fighting here." She's already on her way out. "Let's go - "

Silence. Nate and Hugh follow Rosa to see the furniture has again been completely rearranged. 

"...we weren't in there for that long," Nate whispers. 

"Rosa told you, there's probably someone in here, probably pranksters," Hugh whispers back. 

"We would have heard them, though." Rosa peers over the balcony. "And honestly, I haven't heard anyone around here."

"Can we leave yet? You already got your Banette," Nate begs.

"I wanna finish searching the place," Hugh insists, walking to the room at the end of the hall. "Come on. It'll take fifteen minutes tops."

"I'm still thinking we should sleep in here, too," Rosa adds. "I said I would and I'm not about to back on that now."

Nate whines. He's not eager to do this. 

The next room over is equally as dilapidated as the rest of the house, chunks of wall peeling away and a thick layer of dust coating everything in sight. Nate is even more uneasy when they spend even less time in that room, and even more furniture is moved. 

"Whichever one of you jerks is messing with us, come out and fight me!" Hugh shouts into the house, holding Emboar's Pokéball in his fist. "I'm warning you now, I'm not an easy battle! I'll take you all on myself!"

"Hugh, shut up, there's nobody else in here." Rosa intends to calm him down, but she suddenly looks startled at her own realization. 

No sooner than she says it, a huge boom of thunder rolls through the house. 

"Great," Nate sighs. 

"It'll roll over soon," Rosa assures him. "Thunderstorms never last long in this part of Unova. It's mostly just lightning anyway, not much rain."

"Yeah, we'll be fine. Let's see the downstairs rooms." Now Hugh is the one rushing ahead. "Do you think there's an Abra messing with us? Nate said he heard one earlier, right?"

"No, I heard a girl _say_ Abra," Nate clarifies. "Although... maybe there's a girl in here with an Abra that's messing with us."

"Probably more of an Alakazam," Rosa corrects, "because an Abra alone wouldn't have the psychic power to be moving all this furniture around. That's probably what's happening here."

Nate wants to believe it. 

"There's a full heal in this room!" Rosa says, but her voice is muffled by... by distance? Wait, when did they get ahead of him?

_Nate._

He doesn't bother to turn around and see what might be saying his name, only rushes ahead and into the room where his friends are. 

"...but I haven't seen any Litwick. Nate, have you - "

Rosa stops silent when they see him run into the room. 

"...where'd you run off to?" Hugh asks suspiciously. 

"I-I didn't run anywhere! You guys ran off without me!"

"You were right behind us, though," Rosa says. "I heard you follow us into the room."

"I was on the stairs when you found a full heal, so..."

Rosa sends out Eelektross again. "Let me know if you see anything. Someone's giving us hell."

"Or something," Nate mumbles under his breath. 

_Nate._

He screams and runs behind Hugh. That was _right_ in his ear and more of a growl than a girl's voice. 

"What? What happened?!" Hugh is ready to fight, and another rumble shakes the house 

_"Tross! Tross!"_ Eelektross hisses wildly at what looks to be empty air. There's another Banette hiding in plain sight, right? That has to be it, right? Banette don't speak English, though. Maybe it's an illusion? They can do things like that, right?

"Thunder Wave."

Eelektross just hisses louder, and he actually inches _away_ back toward Rosa. 

"Eelektross, Thunder Wave!"

The eel nudges his own Pokéball with his tail. 

"...what's wrong with you?"

Eelektross only hisses once more. Nate doesn't feel much better. 

"...we should leave."

"Nate, no, there is lightning outside. We can't just run out there right now."

Nate sighs shakily. "Rosa, please - "

"I'd rather take my chances with a ghost than a thunderstorm." She pauses. "Ghost types, I mean."

"Rosa, don't tell me you're starting to freak out too. Human ghosts don't exist like they do in movies!"

Hugh's attitude about this is starting to annoy Nate. "You know, Yamask are born from human spirits. There's tons of ghost types that come from human ghosts, Hugh. There's no reason they can't exist, and there's no proof that they don't exist."

Hugh heads back out. "Whatever. Do you wanna set up camp in the basement?"

Nate and Rosa exchange a worried glance, but the follow Hugh nonetheless.

 

* * *

 

Sleep doesn't come easy to Nate yet. He's often the last one to fall asleep, but trying to sleep in a literal haunted house isn't doing him any favors. He's too overwhelmed, too anxious to really find any rest. Maybe he can distract himself with some of the books around here or something.

Nate explores around the stacks and finds a Dusk Stone, which is the only good to come out of this adventure - well, that and Rosa's new catch. He doesn't understand why anyone would regularly do this, run around exploring abandoned, haunting places. Rosa loves to explore too, of course, and while Nate may make stupid decisions on accident, Rosa regularly puts herself in harms way. Something about a lack of self preservation, Hugh says, in hushed tones where she can't hear. 

_Here._

Nate freezes. He slowly turns to the direction of the whisper, which is flush against the bookcase. One of the books is flipped so it's spine is facing inward. Even when he cautiously pulls it out, there's no other markings on it. 

Okay, he'll read one page, and if it's anything terrifying, he's done. 

_There is a Pokémon called Darkrai in the far Sinnoh region. To protect itself, it drives Pokémon away with terrible nightmares._

Below that simple paragraph is a call number for another book. The stacks seem organized well enough. 

"...well, this is how I die." He's too curious to stop just yet. Hugh and Rosa are on the other side of the basement, close, and if anything happens, he can run to them. 

_Legends and Warnings of Sinnoh Creatures,_ the next book is titled, in calligraphy font that almost looks handwritten. 

_There is a Pokémon called Cresselia in the far Sinnoh region. It's wings shine like the crescent moon and keep nightmares away._

Okay, that's more comforting. The handwritten note under it is much less so. 

_FIND IMMEDIATELY_

and even more unnervingly, etched on the paper with a dried-up pen,

_(SHE'S NOT WAKING UP)_

"Holy shit."

_Nate._

He turns around. The scream catches in his throat when he sees the ghost girl again, eyes sunken and still white, skin gaunt and pale, her hair falling in clumps around her face as if she's about to rot. 

"...hi," Nate barely manages to squeak. 

She waves him on and disappears up the stairs. You know what? He has his Pokéballs, and Rosa and Hugh aren't alone. Fuck it, he'll follow her, why not? Maybe she'll throw him off a balcony and irrefutably prove that this place is haunted. 

The furniture isn't exactly moved this time: it's all levitating three feet off the floor. 

He can't even will himself to move. He sees the spirit standing on the balcony, staring down at him. 

She waves again and disappears into the second floor's center room. 

All the furniture crashes to the ground. Nate screams so loud he thinks he's going to lose his voice. 

"Rosa!"

No answer. 

"Hugh!!"

He feels a claw on his throat and sprints faster up the stairs than he ever has in his life. 

This room is both better and so much worse. It's clean, immaculate compared to the rest of the house. The walls are covered in a more beautiful blue wallpaper than the fading red elsewhere, the floorboards a warmer tan, and a child-sized bed sits neatly tucked into the corner of the room. It looks like the room hasn't been touched by time nor space nor anything else in ages. 

The rug the spirit is floating an inch above has a crescent moon on it. 

"...what did you wanna show me?" He actually inches closer, nearing the crescent, hoping the moon can somehow protect him. 

"...endless dream of... mom, dad, Abra... dark dream... stay here..."

He can't make out much of what she's saying, but he doesn't like it, doesn't like how somehow her voice sounds more solid, too real. 

"Lunar Wing..."

She's gone. A shining feather lays on the ground. 

"Bring it to them."

Somehow, he knows that means his two friends are in danger. 

Nate sprints back to the basement, only faintly aware that the furniture is rapidly shooting all over the room, some of it trying to hit him, or perhaps being thrown at him. Some ethereal growl rips through the room, harmonizing with the wind outside. He almost throws himself down the stairs to beg Rosa and Hugh to leave, _please, I don't wanna be here anymore -_

Some dark shadow is looming over them. 

It... It might be a Pokémon, he's not sure. It's a jagged mass of darkness, topped with a head of white like thick fog, a deep red collar around it and piercing, icy blue eyes. The way its white slits are staring daggers at his friends fills him with both fear and unbridled hatred; it's going to hurt them. 

"...Genesect, come out." 

Nate's voice is barely above a whisper, but Genesect's cry should have woken his friends. Neither of them show any signs of waking up, only stirring and whining weakly in their sleep, seemingly overwhelmed by nightmares, night terrors, an everlasting dream of darkness - 

At the hands of Darkrai. 

"...I don't want to have to fight you." Nate says with an evenness that he didn't think he was capable of in this house. "I don't want to hurt you. I don't want you to hurt _them,_ though."

They could die in here the way that girl did, he realizes, or perhaps Darkrai is telling him this. They could be locked in an eternal torment of horror and anxiety, dreams of hellish torture, burning and choking, assaulted with constant lacerations and drowning in burning oil, buried alive head-first and swallowing dirt. 

He feels sleepy. Very sleepy. Too sleepy...

"Sig...nal... Beam..."

Nate feels himself hit the ground, hears Genesect cry, and the nightmarish Legend growls lowly. Genesect continues to fight, and is torn apart limb by limb, each piece of it being melted in lava, given to Ghetsis wrapped in beautiful red ribbons, eaten by the beast as a snack before he too is consumed alive, asleep but alive, heart still beating - 

A loud roar. An unpleasant sound. Nate feels an icy hand on his neck and a feather on his cheek. 

He starts to wake up, sees the spirit girl, sees Genesect struggling to fight the nightmare above him. 

"Give it to them," he practically begs the girl, reaching for another pokéball. "Lucario, Aura Sphere!"

"What... what's..." Rosa is first to wake. "What the fuck?!"

Genesect collapses into a deep sleep. Almost immediately it begins seizing through its nightmares. 

"Rosa, get Audino to use Wake-Up Slap on Genesect! Lucario, again..."

And Nate feels himself falling asleep, watches Rosa race out of the room, but she's caught in Darkrai's claws and torn in half, tossed aside like an old doll. Everyone's pokéballs begin floating through the air, toward Darkrai, and one by one they all begin to shatter, slowly crackling then exploding all at once, releasing bright red glows of light, sapping the life force away from his friends, his family, and suddenly Hugh is sucked into a void made of nothing but darkness, screams echoing out, swallowing his own cries for release whole as he begins to bleed out - 

"Nate!"

And he's awake again. Hugh sits Nate up and holds him as close as he can. 

"...ah..." Nate isn't even sure what he's trying to say, if there's even anything he can think to say, if he's even well enough to say anything. He feels around for his pokéballs with jelly-like arms, wobbly movements. All six. No cracks. Barely even a scratch. 

Nate whines softly and leans on Hugh. Hugh finds a way to pull him closer. 

"You're all okay now, right?" Rosa asks, though Nate isn't sure who she's talking to. 

_"Genesect!"_

_"Carrrio."_

Oh thank god they're alive. 

"Come back, w-we gotta get out of here." His Pokémon listen to Rosa, letting themselves be sucked back into their shelters. Nate almost wants to let everyone out and run, the fear of the pokéballs shattering still fresh in his mind. 

"Nate, get up, we need to go." Hugh's voice is more urgent than Nate has ever heard. He tries to pull Nate to his feet, but Nate still feels so tired. His legs won't let him rise, won't support him, each breath he takes is shallow and weak, his heart feels like it's skipping beats...

Nate feels a zipper on his cheek; the zipper of Hugh's jacket. He's floating away, no, being carried out of the house. 

_I told ya so._ If Nate wasn't so drained from the battle against that Pokémon, he would say it. 

"Do you still have the feather?" Rosa asks Hugh. 

"Yeah, i-it's still tucked behind Nate's ear, see?"

"Good. Perfect." Neither of them sound very pleased with anything right now. This has been a long night. The thunder is distant, or maybe Nate is still tired. His mind is blank, though, foggy with blue mist instead of brimstone and hellfire. 

"Nate?! St-Stay awake, please, y-you need to stay awake!" Hugh grips him tighter. 

"Tired..."

"Nate, come on! I-I don't want you having nightmares again!"

"Hugh, stop yelling at him, he's exhausted." Rosa can't reason with him, though. 

"I-I don't want him to _die,_ okay?! I dunno what the hell that thing was, but it was going to kill us!"

A distant thought worms its way into Nate's mind, in the voice of a girl who didn't have anyone to save her. "It just wanted us to get out."

"Well, trespassers or not, that's no reason to try and kill anyone!"

"How do you expect to reason with a Pokémon that controls nightmares, Hugh?" Rosa retorts. "Look, the girl gave us the feather, we're out now, let's just get back to Lentimas Town and stay in the Pokémon Center for the night."

"Lunar Wing."

Nate can feel them both looking at him when they speak in unison. "What?"

"It's called a Lunar Wing," he mumbles, "f-from Cresselia. It prevents nightmares. Crescent moon..." He's drifting again. 

"Who told you that?" Hugh asks. 

"The ghost girl."

No answer. Nate forces his eyes to open. They're both completely pale. 

"...what?"

"That... That was actually..."

"A ghost?" Rosa finishes Hugh's sentence. 

"Yeah. I told you that place was haunted." The two of them look guilty, now, and now he feels bad. "We didn't know _that_ would happen, though. Besides, the ghost helped us!"

"Is that why her eyes were totally white?" Nate nods at Hugh, who takes another second to process that information. "That was a ghost?!"

"Hugh, if you keep yelling, you're gonna wake the whole town up," Rosa groans. "And they'll know we were in there. I don't think we're supposed to even go in that house."

"Yeah, you think?" Nate huffs. "I know I'm kinda a dummy sometimes, but I'm not always a dummy. I-I guess going off on my own was a dumb idea, though..."

"If you didn't look around, we wouldn't have known what to do, and we definitely wouldn't have found the Lunar Wing," Hugh counters. "Do you think that... thing was guarding it?"

"If it keeps away the nightmares, maybe," Rosa nods. 

"Maybe Darkrai just wants to be left alone." They both look back at Nate. 

"Darkrai..." Rosa immediately starts searching on her Pokédex. "Maybe one of our 'dexes picked it up during the battle."

"Was everyone okay?" Nate asks. 

"We got scuffed up, but we're all out safe and sound," Hugh answers. "Genesect ended up chasing it away. We need to heal it and Lucario, though. Audino, Emboar, and Serperior need some healing, too..." 

Nate shuts his eyes again and leans into Hugh's chest, listening to his heart beat. "I'm sorry..."

"Nate, you're the one who saved us," Hugh hums, and Nate looks up at him. "You don't have anything to be sorry for. I'm sorry we didn't listen to you."

Hugh kisses the top of Nate's head sweetly, gently. It takes both of them a second to realize what just happened and blush. 

"W-Well, anyway, I'm glad you're okay," Hugh says quickly. 

"To protect itself, it inflicts those around it with nightmares," Rosa recites its entry in the Pokédex. "However, it means no harm."

"Bullshit, it means no harm!" Hugh shouts, before remembering to speak softly as they enter Lentimas Town. "It probably killed that kid. It almost killed us. It almost..." 

Hugh looks down at Nate, overwhelmingly guilt-ridden. Nate smiles back up at him. 

"Almost, but not quite."

Hugh smiles half-heartedly. "Yeah."

They're coming up on the Pokémon Center. "Uh, y-you can put me down now, Hugh."

"Well, we're almost there anyway. And stop squirming, you don't wanna lose that Lunar Wing."

Nate takes it out from behind his ear and tucks it in the innermost pocket of his jacket. "There. _Now_ can you put me down?"

"Nope." 

Nate blushes and squirms. "Come on! L-Lemme walk!"

"But I don't want you to trip and fall! You got - " 

"Hugh, quiet." Rosa scolds him again.

"...got hurt enough already tonight," Hugh whispers. "Besides, I kinda like carrying you."

Rosa tries (tries, being the operative word) to stifle her laughter. If Nate wasn't blushing already, he's definitely red-faced now. "You suck."

"Yeah, I know."

He couldn't be paid to relive this night, but admittedly, he's willing to make a few more mistakes if he gets to be held like this again.

**Author's Note:**

> "hey aren't you supposed to be writing ReuNite????" yes but i've been watching horror shows all day so here have this  
> i might add a second chapter to this too eventually :0 so yeah have some horror, i've never written spooky stuff before but this was self-indulgent and fun!  
>  ~~also this is the first piece of writing here where i write for Nate's pov and it's a big ol Scary Time for him i'm sorry my son~~


End file.
